Description:

Johnson William

William S. Johnson, Constitution Signer. Document Signed

 

2pp partly printed and partly handwritten DS inlaid in larger sheet signed by future Constitution signer William Samuel Johnson (1727-1819) as "Wm. Saml. Johnson" at bottom right recto. Extensively docketed verso. Dated October 24, 1775 in New Haven, Connecticut. Expected paper folds and light toning, else near fine, measuring 8.375" x 12" overall. Accompanied by an engraving of Johnson laid on a larger sheet measuring 8.75" x 12".  From the Collection of Charles Forbes. Comes with Forbes' original typewritten filing folder pencil dated August 4, 1955, and a photocopy of Forbes' bookplate.

 

This document is interesting for two reasons. Most importantly, it was signed by future Constitutional Convention delegate William S. Johnson. Second, it involved a wealthy female plaintiff who was also a creditor. The colonial clerk was forced to cross out the default "him" printed in the legal document and handwrite in "her."

 

William S. Johnson instructed New Haven County officials to summon Guilford, Connecticut resident Ebenezer Dudley to the upcoming November 1775 court session to answer charges brought against him by fellow town resident Tabitha Bishop. Dudley had borrowed a sizable sum from Bishop on or around February 27, 1775, but "promised the Plf calling her Tabby Bishop ins note to pay to him her (for Value received) the Sum of Twenty four pounds Eighteen Shillings Lawful money at on or before the first Day of September then next." Docket information verso indicates that the Johnson signed writ was read before both the plaintiff and defendant in Guilford three days later.

 

William S. Johnson was a well-known and respected Connecticut lawyer and politician. Educated at Yale, Johnson also received honorary degrees from Harvard and Oxford, and probably would have excelled as a clergyman. But Johnson pursueda civic course instead, serving in the Connecticut militia, state government, and state Supreme Court. Johnson's residence in London as a Connecticut land agent inclined him to disapprove of most colonial policies, yet up through the American Revolution Johnson favored a brokered peace. His political stance was complicated, so that while he declined an invitation to serve as a delegate to the 1st Continental Congress in 1774, he later attended the 1787 Constitutional Convention. Once the American Revolution was a fait accompli Johnson could support a strong federal government and equitable representation among its new states. The William S. Johnson papers are in the collection of the Connecticut Historical Society.

 

It is possible that the same Tabitha Bishop of Guilford involved in this 1775 law suit was listed in the 1790 Connecticut census as the head of her household.

 

Ex-Charles Forbes Collection. Forbes purchased this piece in 1949, making it 60 years since it has appeared on the market.

 

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